Plaited cable sling



Feb. 3, 1 925.

c. NYMAN ET AL PLAI TED CABLE SLING Filed May 9, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR v 1,524,671; C.,NYMAN ET AL v Feb.

PLAITED CABLE SLING Fild ma 9, 1 24 4 Sheets-Sheet 5,

Feb. 3 1925 11,524,671 C. NYMAN ET AL PLAITED CABLE SLING Filed May 9,1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 K INVENTOR Patented Feb. 3, 1925.

* UNITED" STATES CHARLES 'NYMAN, or PITTSBURGH, AND 1301mm) Mun PENNSYVANIZQ P AT E gay,- or w'rnxmsnune,

PLAIT'ED CABLE SLING.

Application filed May 9,

To all whom it mayv concern-.-

Be it known that we, CHARLES NYMAN and DONALD MURRAY, citizens of theUnited States, residing in Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg, respectively,county ofAllegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Plaited Cable Slings, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description. j

This invention relates to plaited cable slings and particularlyto'slings having a suspension eye and a plurality ofdepend ng portions.Slings of this character are highly desirable in the handling of variouskinds of material. .For example, a sling may have its dependingportionsformed into one or more loops for lifting bundled material, or may havea plurality of depending portions terminating in hooks for engaging abox or other structure.

We provide a sling which is plaited from one or more elementary strands,which may be wire cable on other suitable material. Such a sling issuperior to one formed from twisted cable in that it has no tendency totwist upon itself or to break the small wires which comprise the cable.A further advantage is that if a wire strand does part it can onlyunravel a very short distance before a crossing strand, prevents furtherloosening.

v The forming of eyes intheend of a sling has heretofore been generallyaccomplished by splicing. Our invention provides for strands which areused to plait the various depending portions of the sling. It is,therefore, necessary only to splice the small elementary strands, therebeing at no point a single splice involving all of the strands of thesling. The weak spot in most slings is thereby done away with and thesling comprises one or'more elementary strands extending in a continuousmanner through the depending portions and around the eye or eyes of thesling.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the preferred embodimentsof the invention, t

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the positioning ofthestrands prior to splicing a sling having two depending cablelikeportions,

Figure 2 is a view on an enlarged scale showing the preliminary'step-sof forming a suspension eye and commencing the plait forming these eyesfrom the elementary 1924. Serial nan aloe.

ing previous to plaiting the cable-like por t1ons separately,

Figure 3 a view of the; sling after one such portion has been completelyplaited, the other portion being only partially .plaitecl,

Figure l is a side elevation of the complcted sling,

t Figure 5 is a view corresponding to Figure 1, showing the positioningof the strands preliminary to plaiting a double loop sling,

Figure 6 is a View showing a further step.

in the process,

Figure7 is aside elevation of a completed double loop. sling, I Figure 8is a View of'a plaited cable ready to be formed into a single loopsling,

Figure 9is a perspectiveview showing the manner of assembly of thestrand loops prio-r'to serving them'into a single'eye,

Figure 10 is a viewer a completed single 100p sling, and

Figure 11 is a' perspective view showing an 'application thereof i 1 Inthe embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 1 to 4 there is shown asling comprising a suspension eye and two depending portions havinghooks at the ends'thereof. This sling is formed b takinga pair ofelementar'y strands 2 and 3 of suitable size, inserting each in the eye40f a hook 5and doubling the cables from the eye." The cables thencomprise elementary strands 2 and 2 and 3 and3 The cables are redoubledand placed in the position shown in Figure 1. J g Adjacent the upperbend of the cables shown in Figure 1 the strands are united andtemporarily secured by a seizing wire 6' to form'a suspension eye/7,this eye-including all of the strands in" the sling. The strands areplaite'd' below theseizing wire 6 fora short distance to form a singleplaited bodyportion 8, the manner of plaiting being'preferably thatshown in Figures 12 to 17 inclusive, in the pateutto Charles Nyman, No.1,475,859. As clearly set forth in that patent the" plaiting-operationcomprises dividing the strands into two pairs, crossing one pair ofstrands, then crossing the second pair over the first pairand soon untila plaite'd' cable of suitable length is secured. [It will be seen fromFigure 2 that this step has been carried out in the present embodimentof the invention by making the loop portions of the strands 2 and 2 andthe free portions of the strands 3 and 3 intoone pair of double strandsand the free portions of the strands 2' and- 2 and the loop portions ofthe strands 3* and 3 the other pair of double strands for plaitmg intothe body portion 8 of the sling.

After a body ortion 8 of sufiicient length has been formed the strandsare divided into two sets of four, as shown in Figure 2, each of whichsets is to be formed into a separate portion of the sling Figure 3 showsthe step of plaiting one of the such portions in this particular form ofthe sling, the strands comprisingthe loop. portionsB and 3" of thestrand 3 and the free portions 2 and 2 of the cable 2. The plaitingoperation, which is the same as shown in detail in the Nyman patentabove referred to, is as follows: The strands 3 and 3 are crossed, as at9, and the strands 2 and 2 are then passed through the loop to cross oneanother, as at- 10. After these have been drawn taut the operation isrepeated until there is just suflicient opening in the loop to permitthe formation of a suitable eye.

One of the free ends 2 and 2 is then passed through the ring 4 and thetwo ends are spliced to form a loop through the rim This spliced loopand the loop of the cab e 3 are then covered with a serving wire 11 anda thimble 12 is inserted in the eye. A final serving 13 is then put onto secure the eye in place. The suspension eye is similarly treated, itbeing first covered with a serving wire 14, after which a thimble 15 isinserted and a final serving wire 16 is wrapped over the body portion 8of the sling.

The sling thus formed comprises a suspension eye, a body portionimmediately adjacent thereto, and a plurality of depending cable-likeportions extending from the body portion and having hooks at the endsthereof. It will be understood, of course, that the hooks may beomitted'if desired. but one advantage of the invention is the fact thatsuch hooks may be made a permanent part of the sling by plaiting thesling with the hooks in place, thereby materially strengthening theapparatus as a whole by doing away withthe necessity of splicing all ofthe cables or strands forming the sling. The eye 4 is preferably piercedin the solid metal forming the hook and by our invention the hook issecured to the sling without welding of the hook or splicing the slingas a whole.

The embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 5 to 7 inclusive,varies from that previously described in that the cable-like portionsare replaced by loops which start and terminate adjacent the suspensioneye. In this form of the invention the elementary cables or strands aregroupedas. shown in Figure 5, and seizing wires 17 and 18 are placedover each set of four. Each set is then plaited in the manner abovedescribed and the ends spliced to form a loop 19, as shown in Figure 6.Each portion of the sling is then doubled back toward the middle of thecables until they'assume the position of Figure 6. The sling at thisstage of the process consists of loop portions 20 and 21 terminating ineyes 19 and joined by an unplaited cable portion 22. The eyes 19 and theportion 22 are then united to form a suspension eye, preferably byuniting all the cables by a seizing wire 23 and plaiting the loose endsas above described. This operation is carried far enough to leave themiddle of the cable portion 22 pro jecting as a loop and also to leavethe eyes 19 intact but of reduced length. These are then united and allsecured together by a serving wire2et to form a suspension eye 25. Athimble 26 is inserted in the eye and a final serving 27 is put on theslin immediately below the eye to hold the t himble in p ace. Y

Figures 8 to 11, inclusive, show a single loop form of sling which isexceedingly useful for certain work. This form of slin is preferablymade by first plaiting a cablelike portion of substantially twice thelength of the desired sling and then doubling this cable-like portion tobring the ends ad acent one another. As shown in Figure 8, the sling atthis stage of construction comprises a cable-like body 28 having loops29 and 30 at one end thereof, and loops 31 and 32 at the otherendthereof. As fully set out in the Nyman patent, above referred to, thisarticle may be plaite-d from a single elementary strandwith only onesplice, as at 33. If desired, however, it may be made of two elementarystrands, "but if this is the case the splices arepreferably at oppositeends of the body 28.

The loops 29, 30, 31 and 32 are united to form a single eye. This ispreferably done by placing the loops 011 top of one another andalternating a loop from one end of the body with a loop from the otherend, as shown to enlarged scale in Figure 9. After being thus combinedthe various loops are brought closely together and served with lightwire to form a suspension eye 34 in the usual manner. It will be notedfrom Figure 9 that the splice 33 lies on the same side of the suspensioneye 34 as does the depending portion with which it is directlyconnected. When a sling of this character is used the depending portionsare fre quently spread wide apart and the splice, if so placed,isfavored somewhat, thus tending toward a stronger and safer sling.

A sling of this character is exceedingly strong and flexible and may beput to a number of uses. For example, it 1s shown in Figure 11 as havingthe lower loop porno kinks or deformations of any kind.

In any of the illustrated forms of the invention it is desirable 'toterminate the body portion adjacent the suspension eye so the cable-likeportions depending therefrom pass under the lower portion of such bodyportion before becoming incorporated therewith. In practice the workingportions of the sling are generally spread apart somewhat, as shown inFigures 4 and 7, and such construction is desirable in order to maintainall portions of the sling tightly plaited. Figure 2 clearly shows themanner in which the cable-like portions are preferably joined to thebody 'ortion, the strands from either of the cab e-like por tions beingincorporated with the body portion at the remote side thereof.

We thus provide an improved cable sling having a suspension eye and aplurality of plaited body portions extending therefrom. The number ofstrands about the eye of the sling is the same as the number of strandsin the sling proper, and in every case both the eye and the body portionare formed from one or more elementary strands passing back and forthfrom the body to the eye in a continuous manner. The sling is unsplicedas a whole, the only splices being in the elementary cables or strands,which are plaited to form the completed sling. lVe can thus produceslings which are strong and flexible and exceedingly convenient and safeto use.

In each of the illustrated embodiments of the invention the strands havebeen formed into a plurality of depending portions which, in theembodiment of Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, are rovided with hooks, andwhich, in the em odiment of Figures 5 to 7 and 8 to 11, inclusive, areformed into loops. Obviously, the number of strands may be increased asdesired and divided into as many sets as is necesary to form a slinghaving a suitable number of cable-like portions for the purposeintended. For example, eight strands may be arranged in the same manneras the four strands of Figuresl to 5, inclusive, and a sling having fourcable-like portions formed therefrom. Any size cable or any number ofsmall cables may be utilized to form the strands from which the sling isplaited in order to secure a sling of the desired strength.

elementary strand extending around the eye and forming a part of atleastv two of said portions, substantiallv as described.

2. A plaited cable sling having a suspension eye, the sling being formedfrom a plurality of lengths of material doubled in their centralportions to form an eye and plaited on either side of the eye intocableike portions, substantially as described.

3. A plaited cable sling having a suspension eye, the sling being formedfrom a plurality of lengths of material doubled in their centralportions to form an eye, plaited beyond the eye to form a single bodyportion and plaited beyond the body portion into a plurality ofdepending port1ons,.substantially as described.

4. A plaited cable sling having a plurality of cable-like portions withan eye at the ends'thereof, the sling having at least one elementarystrand extending through at least two of the cable-like portions,substantially as described.

5. .A plaited cable sling havin a plurality of cable-like portions,depen ing from a suspension eye and formed of a plurality of plaitedstrands extending in a continuous rr anner back and forth through such'portions and around the eye, substantially as described.

6. A plaited cable sling having a suspension eye, a plaited body portionadjacent thereto, and a plurality of cable-like portions beyond the bodyportion, the body portion being formed from all of the strands in theseveral cable-like portions, substam tially as described.

7. A plaited cable sling having a suspension eye and a plurality ofdepending portions, the eye being formed of all the strands in theseveral de nding portions, substantially as described 8. A plaited cablesling including a plurality of cable-like portions depending from asuspension eye and also having eyes at the ends thereof remote from thesuspen sion eye, the sling comprising at least one elementary strandextending in a continuous manner around each of the eyes and througheach of the cable-like portions,'substantially' as described.

9; A plaited cable sling having a suspension e e, a plurality ofcable-like portions depen ing therefrom and having eyes at the endsthereof remote from the suspension eye, the number of strands in thefirst mentioned eyes being the same as the nun ber of strands in thecable-like portions, and the number of strands in the last mentioned eyebeing the same as the total number of strands in all the cable-likeportions, substantially as described.

10. The method of making a cable sling.

having a suspension eye and a plurality of depending portions,whichin-cludes forming a suspension eye from a plurality of strands,dividing the strands into sets and plaiting each set into a dependingportion, substantially as described.

11. [Themethod of making a sling having a suspension eye and a pluralityof depending portions, which includes uniting a plurality of stands toform a suspension eye, plaiting such strands into a body portion,separating the strands beyond the body portion into sets and plaitingeach of the sets of strands intof-a depending sling portion,substantially as described.

12. The method of making a sling having a suspension eye and a pluralityof depending port-i0ns,'which includesuniting a plurality of strands toform a suspension eye, dividing the strands into sets, plaiting each setinto a depending portion, and forming an eye at the end of each of suchportions, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set our hands;

CHARLES NYMAN. DONALD MURRAY

